Short-range wireless beacons are used at various sites, such as shops, restaurants, cultural venues and sport arenas, to attract attention from nearby users of mobile communication devices such as mobile terminals like smartphones or tablets. The abbreviated notion mobile devices will be used herein when referring to such mobile communication devices.
For instance, the iBeacon technology from Apple allows for mobile devices to understand their location on a micro-local scale, and also allows delivery of hyper-contextual content to the users of mobile devices based on their current location. The iBeacon technology is based on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard, and more particularly on Generic Access Profile (GAP) advertising packets. There are several other kinds of short-range wireless beacon technologies, for instance AltBeacon, URIBeacon and Eddystone, which are also based on BLE and GAP.
A basic short-range wireless beacon system is shown in FIG. 1A. A beacon device B1 repeatedly broadcasts a short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BA1 in a 31-byte GAP BLE packet. The beacon advertisement signal BA1 contains a 128-bit universally unique identifier, UUID1. The beacon advertisement signal BA1 also includes a 32-bit major/minor portion. A location or region associated with the beacon device B1 is represented by the universally unique identifier UUID1, and in some implementations also by the major/minor portion. The universally unique identifier UUID1 can therefore be seen as a beacon broadcast channel upon which the beacon device B1 makes local broadcasts intended for beacon receivers in the location or region associated with the beacon device B1.
A conventional beacon device is typically static in the sense that it is permanently placed at a stationary location at a site for which beacon-triggered services are to be provided. Mobile devices nearby may receive the short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BA1 if they are within the proximity zone, i.e. range, of the beacon device B1.
To this end, each mobile device is provided with an application program, app, which is configured to handle the received short-range wireless beacon advertisement signals, in this case signal BA1, as addressed by the respective universally unique identifier contained in the signals, in this case the UUID1 transmitted by the beacon device B1. These apps may be handled by the operating system of the mobile device in different modes. The most prominent mode is the active mode, in which the app executes in the foreground, and typically is capable to interact with the user of the mobile communication device and also to communicate with another device or a server via the short-range wireless beacon interface and/or another communication interface. In FIG. 1A, two mobile devices in the active mode are shown as A1 and A2. When, for instance, mobile device A1 receives the beacon advertisement signal BA1, the app in the mobile device A1 may detect that the UUID1 is contained therein and use it together with the information in the major/minor portion as appropriate in some way which is beneficial to the user and/or the host of the beacon device B1 and which often involves interaction between the app in the mobile device A1 and a service provider SP over a communication network NW.
Examples of such beneficial use includes, without limitation, determining a current approximate position of the mobile device A1 by retrieving a predefined position of the beacon device B1 from the service provider SP or by cross reference with local lookup data, or retrieving a content from the service provider SP.
A mobile device where the app is in active mode is referred to as an active mobile device in this document. An active mobile device A1, A2 may receive and react to additional transmissions of the beacon advertisement signal BA1 from the beacon device B1; this may be useful for instance if the content associated with the host of the beacon device B1 is updated or changed.
Furthermore, an active mobile device may receive and react to beacon advertisement signals from other beacon devices nearby, such as beacon device B2 in FIG. 1A, provided that they are already within the proximity zone of the respective beacon device (see mobile device A2 with respect to beacon device B2 in FIG. 1A), or move closer to it (mobile device A1 and beacon device B2). This is so irrespective of whether the different beacon devices B1 and B2 broadcast on different channels (different UUIDs in the beacon advertisement signals), or on the same channel (same UUID, UUID1, in the beacon advertisement signals BA1 and BA2, like in FIG. 1A). It is to be noticed that the same UUID/same single beacon broadcast channel is very often used for different beacon devices hosted by the same host, such as within the same supermarket, arena, fastfood restaurant, etc.
The operating system of the mobile devices may also handle apps in a passive mode. A purpose of the passive mode is power preservation, since the mobile devices are typically powered by batteries and since it is a general technical ambition to maximize the operational time of a mobile device between successive charging sessions. In the passive mode, the app executes in the background or is only installed on the mobile device.
Transitions between active mode and passive mode may be based on user interaction, user preference settings in the app or the operating system, or program logic in the app or the operating system.
A mobile device where the app is in passive mode is referred to as a passive mobile device in this document. In the passive mode, the app typically cannot interact with the user via the user interface, nor communicate with a server or another device—except for the following. Just like active mobile devices, a nearby passive mobile device (such as P1 in FIG. 1A) may receive a short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal (such as BA1) if it is within the proximity zone of the beacon device in question (e.g. B1). However, unlike active mobile devices, after a short beacon scanning mode during which the beacon device B1 is discoverable and also communication with server or another device is possible, and unless it switches to active mode, the passive mobile device P1 will not be able to react to additional transmissions on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1 from the beacon device B1. Instead, after the short beacon scanning mode (which typically lasts for some seconds, such as about 10 seconds), the passive mobile device P1 will be “deaf” to, i.e. ignore, additional transmissions on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1 for as long as it stays in passive mode and continues to detect any advertisement on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1, for instance because it remains within the proximity zone of the beacon device B1 and continues to detect its beacon advertisement signal BA1. Only once the passive mobile device P1 has not received the beacon advertisement signal BA1, or any other communication, on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1 for a certain time, such as 1-15 minutes, the passive mobile device P1 will again be susceptive of the beacon advertisement signal BA1, or any other communication, on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1.
The present inventors have identified several problems associated with the above.
It is a problem for the host of the beacon device B1, since it will prevent the host from advertising for new or updated content. It is also a problem to the passive mobile device P1, since it will be deprived of an opportunity to react on the beacon advertisement signal BA1 on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1 during the period when it is “deafened out”.
This also means that when there are several beacon devices nearby, a passive mobile device will be locked to the beacon device (or more specifically, to its beacon broadcast channel UUID1) which it first discovered for as long as it stays within that beacon device's proximity zone. In the example of FIG. 1A, the passive mobile device P1 has first discovered the first beacon device B1. It then moves towards and enters into the proximity zone of the second beacon device B2 while remaining within reach of the first beacon device B1 Since the two beacon devices B1 and B2 broadcast their beacon advertisement signals BA1 and BA2 on the same beacon broadcast channel (same UUID1), the passive mobile device P1 will not be able to discover the second beacon device B2 and react to its beacon advertisement signal BA2.
This is, again, problematic both from the point of view of the passive mobile device P1 itself and for the host of the second beacon device B2, for the reasons explained above. In addition to this, the host of the second beacon device B2 will not be able to track the movement of the passive mobile device P1 and broadcast an adapted service offer to the user of the passive mobile device P1 as a result of the movement (such as, for instance, offering a first content when the user is in a first subarea where the first beacon device B1 is located and a different, second content when the user is in a second subarea where the second beacon device B2 is located).
Moreover, if the app in the passive mobile device uses beacon-based localization functionality, the passive mobile device will not be able to update its estimated location caused by the movement, since the second beacon device B2 will not be detected when the passive mobile device P1 is still within range of the first beacon device B1.
In recent time, applications have been introduced which are based on mobile beacon devices rather than stationary. For instance, the present applicant has taken leadership in developing a new beacon-based technology which considerably facilitates for users of mobile devices which are proximate to each other to interact by, for instance, sharing content or conducting social media interaction.
The technology, which can be referred to as a “bubble” concept, is based on short-range wireless beacon broadcast messaging for establishing a dynamic, proximity-based network. Interaction between the users of the mobile devices in the network is supported by broadband communication with a server. Details are disclosed in the Swedish patent applications SE 1451203-2 “COMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR IMPROVED SHARING OF CONTENT”, SE 1400535-9 “SELECTIVE USER INTERACTION IN A DYNAMIC, PROXIMITY-BASED GROUP OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES”, SE 1451433-5 “DYNAMIC TIMING FOR IMPROVED COMMUNICATION HANDLING BETWEEN COMMUNICATION DEVICES”, SE 1451509-2 “COMMUNICATION DEVICE FOR IMPROVED ESTABLISHING OF A CONNECTION BETWEEN DEVICES” and SE 1550486-3 “TEMPORARY PROXIMITY BASED LICENSE FOR APPLICATION ACCESS”, the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety.
A short-range wireless beacon system based on mobile beacon devices is shown in FIG. 1B. While it can generally be used for various different purposes, the system in FIG. 1B is advantageously used for implementing the above-mentioned bubble concept. To this end, each mobile device A1, A2, A3, P1 is provided with an app which (together with the operating system and hardware in the mobile device) is configured to handle transmission as well as reception of short-range wireless beacon advertisement signals. Hence, unlike the basic static beacon system in FIG. 1A, in the bubble system of FIG. 1B, each mobile device can act as a beacon transmitting device as well as a beacon receiving device. In FIG. 1B, the mobile device A1 is in active mode and repeatedly broadcasts its short-range wireless beacon advertisement signal BA1, containing the 128-bit universally unique identifier UUID1 as a beacon broadcast channel indicator and a device identifier uidA1 within the 32-bit major/minor portion of the beacon advertisement signal.
Other active mobile devices A2, A3 within the proximity zone PZ1 of the mobile device BA1 can receive the beacon advertisement signal BA1, read the UUID1 and the uidA1, and as a result contact a system server SS over a communication network NW. The app in the receiving mobile device may decide, for instance based on user interaction, user preference settings and/or program logic in the app, to join the bubble of the mobile device A1, wherein the system server SS will register the receiving mobile device as belonging to the bubble of the mobile device A1. This is seen for the active mobile devices A2 and A3 in FIG. 1B. The users of the bubble members A1-A3 may then, for instance, share content or conduct social media interaction supported by a system server SS and/or a service provider SP over the communication network NW.
There may also be passive mobile devices within the proximity zone PZ1 of the active mobile device A1. This is seen for a passive mobile device P1 in FIG. 1B. The passive mobile device P1 will also receive the beacon advertisement signal BA1 on the UUID1 channel. However, if the mobile device P1 remains in passive mode, it will not be able to react to additional transmissions on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1 from the active mobile device A1 for the reasons explained above with respect to FIG. 1A. The passive mobile device P1 will therefore not be susceptive of additional transmissions of the beacon advertisement signal BA1 from the active mobile device A1 for as long as it stays within its proximity zone PZ1.
This problematic situation is complicated further by the fact that in a bubble system, all active mobile devices are potential senders as well as receivers of beacon advertisement signals. As seen in FIG. 1C, the other active mobile devices A2 and A3 may also send respective beacon advertisement signal BA2 and BA3 to generate a respective bubble of nearby mobile devices within their respective proximity zones PZ2 and PZ3. These transmissions typically occur on the same common beacon broadcast channel UUID1, wherein the transmissions are individualized by including a respective device identifier uidA2 and uidA3 within the 32-bit major/minor portion of the respective beacon advertisement signal BA2 and BA3.
While the active mobile devices A1 and A3 may react to the beacon advertisement signal BA2 and hence join the bubble of the active mobile devices A2 (and correspondingly for the active mobile devices A1 and A2 with respect to the active mobile device A3), this is not so for the passive mobile device P1 since it has already detected the beacon advertisement signal BA1 of the first active mobile device A1 and thus been deafened out on the beacon broadcast channel UUID1.
A problem from the point of view of the passive mobile device P1 is that it will not have any opportunity to hear the beacon advertisement signals BA2 or BA3 on the common beacon broadcast channel UUID1 and as a result not be given any opportunity to join other bubbles than the bubble of the first active mobile device A1. A problem from the point of view of the active mobile devices A2 and A3 is correspondingly that they will not be aware of the presence of the passive mobile device P1 within their proximity zones PZ2 and PZ3, nor announce their availability as bubble creators to the passive mobile device P1.
As is clear from the above descriptions of the exemplifying situations in FIGS. 1A-1C, the present inventors have identified several problem with beacon systems of the prior art, both ones that are based on one or more static beacon devices, and those that are based on mobile beacon devices.
One possible solution that could have been considered by those of ordinary skill in the art would be to use difference beacon broadcast channels for the different beacon devices. Beacon device B1/active mobile device A1 would use a first beacon broadcast channel UUID1, beacon device B1/active mobile device A2 would use a second beacon broadcast channel UUID2, active mobile device A3 would use a third beacon broadcast channel UUID3, and so on. However, this is not attractive for manufacturers of operating systems for mobile devices, since it would require enormous resources to allocate unique beacon broadcast channels to all possible beacon devices/mobile devices. In reality, an operating system manufacturer typically only allows for a few different UUIDs to be used by a certain mobile device app, which renders this solution clearly unfeasible.
Another possible solution that could have been considered by those of ordinary skill in the art would be to use push messages from a central instance via a network, such as the service provider SP or system server SS via the communication network NW in FIGS. 1A-1C, to reach all mobile devices in a certain proximity zone. This would however have several disadvantages in itself. All mobile devices would have to monitor for such push messages on a frequent basis, which would require both modification of all mobile devices and increase of the power consumption. Adding a push notification service would require registering the app to push notification and also implementing some appropriate push notification code at the back end of the system, which of course has an expense. Also, uncertainty as regards when the user can be reached by a notification in time would be introduced, since push notification messages cannot be guaranteed to arrive.
As will be clear from the following description, the present inventors have instead invented a different solution which will solve, eliminate, alleviate, mitigate or reduce at least some of the problems referred to above.